Use of growth hormone to boost athletic performance can lead to diabetes, reports a study published ahead of print in the British Journal of Sports Me

Use of growth hormone to boost athletic performance can lead to diabetes, reports a study published ahead of print in the British Journal of Sports Medicine. The study reports the case of a 36 year old professional body-builder who required emergency care for chest pain. He had lost 40 kg in 12 months, during which he had also experienced excessive urination, thirst, and appetite. He admitted to using anabolic steroids for 15 years and artificial growth hormone for the past three. He had also taken insulin, a year after starting on the growth hormone. This was done to counter the effects of high blood sugar, but he had stopped taking it after a couple of episodes of acute low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia) while at the gym. Tests revealed that his liver was inflamed, his kidneys were enlarged and that he had very high blood sugar. He was also dehydrated, and diagnosed with diabetes. He was given intravenous fluids and gradually increasing amounts of insulin over five days, after which he was discharged. His symptoms completely cleared up, and he was no longer diabetic. The use of growth hormone has steadily risen among amateur athletes and bodybuilders all round the world, say the authors, because it is easy to buy online and difficult to detect in screening tests unlike anabolic steroids. The authors believe that this is the first reported case of diabetes associated with the use of high dose growth hormone, and urge anyone taking high doses to regularly check their blood sugar levels.

Xanya Sofra Weiss

Xanya Sofra Weiss

Microcurrent . Xanya Sofra Weiss

Chronic low back pain associated with myofascial trigger point activity has been historically refractory to conventional treatment (Pain Research and Management 7 (2002) 81). In this case series study, an analysis of 22 patients with chronic low back pain, of 8.8 years average duration, is presented. Following treatment with frequency-specific microcurrent, a statistically significant 3.8-fold reduction in pain intensity was observed using a visual analog scale. This outcome was achieved over an average treatment period of 5.6 weeks and a visit frequency of one treatment per week. When pain chronicity exceeded 5 years, there was a trend toward increasing frequency of treatment required to achieve the same magnitude of pain relief.In 90% of these patients, other treatment modalities including drug therapy, chiropractic manipulation, physical therapy, naturopathic treatment and acupuncture had failed to produce equivalent benefits. The microcurrent treatment was the single factor contributing the most consistent difference in patient-reported pain relief.These results support the observation that rigorously designed clinical investigations are warranted.

Xanya Sofra Weiss

Xanya Sofra Weiss

New diabetes research: Half of Americans have gene that affects how body burns sugar 2007

Those people with the variant gene processed fat differently than those who don’t have it. They burned more fat, which may have hindered their ability to remove sugar from the blood stream and burn it. Diabetes is characterized by too much sugar in the blood. “This study adds to what was previously known about this gene variant by showing that after consuming a very rich milkshake, people with the variant gene process the fat from the drink differently than other people,” Weiss says. That is not to say that half of U.S. residents are destined to get diabetes, he adds. “While the variation of the gene appears to contribute to the diabetes risk, it does not cause diabetes by itself,” Weiss says. “Many other genes, some known and some unknown, are involved in a person’s overall risk of developing diabetes. Those are things a person can’t control. But there are risk factors for diabetes that a person can change - lifestyle factors, such as diet and exercise.”

Xanya Sofra Weiss

Xanya Sofra Weiss

PPARs and the complex journey to obesity

Ronald M Evans,Grant D Barish & Yong-Xu Wang ; 2004

Obesity and the related disorders of dyslipidemia and diabetes (components of syndrome X) have become lobal health epidemics. Over the past decade, the elucidation of key regulators of energy balance and insulin signaling have revolutionized our understanding of fat and sugar metabolism and their intimate link. The three ‘lipid-sensing’ peroxisome proliferator–activated receptors (PPAR-α, PPAR-γand PPAR-δ) exemplify this connection, regulating diverse aspects of lipid and glucose homeostasis, and serving as bona fide therapeutic targets. With molecular underpinnings now in place, new pharmacologic approaches to metabolic disease and new questions are emerging.

Xanya Sofra Weiss

Xanya Sofra Weiss

Iontophoretic drug delivery. Xanya Sofra Weiss

Yogeshvar N. Kalia , Aarti Naik , James Garrison , Richard H. Guy ; 2003

The composition and architecture of the stratum corneum render it a formidable barrier to the topical and transdermal administration of therapeutic agents. The physicochemical constraints severely limit the number of molecules that can be considered as realistic candidates for transdermal delivery. Iontophoresis provides a mechanism to enhance the penetration of hydrophilic and charged molecules across the skin. The principal distinguishing feature is the control afforded by iontophoresis and the ability to individualize therapies. This may become significant as the impact of interindividual variations in protein expression and the effect on drug metabolism and drug efficacy is better understood. In this review we describe the underlying mechanisms that drive iontophoresis and we discuss the impact of key experimental parameters—namely, drug concentration, applied current and pH—on iontophoretic delivery efficiency. We present a comprehensive and critical review of the different therapeutic classes and molecules that have been investigated as potential candidates for iontophoretic delivery. The iontophoretic delivery of peptides and proteins is also discussed. In the final section, we describe the development of the first pre-filled, pre-programmed iontophoretic device, which is scheduled to be commercialized during the course of 2004. D 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews 56 619 – 658 )

Xanya Sofra Weiss

Xanya Sofra Weiss

Analgesic efficacy of APS (Action Potential Simulation). Pilot study of the patients with chronic pain due to musculoskeletal disorders. Xanya Sofra

Anna Pyszora, Małgorzata Krajnik, Anna Adamczyk, Michał Graczyk, Jacek Budzynski, Zbigniew Zylicz, Małgorzata Łukowicz; 2007

Background and aims: Pain in musculoskeletal disorders is common medical problem, however frequently difficult to treat. That is why different methods of physical therapies have been tried with the controversial results. APS-therapy (Action Potential Simulation) falls under the broad definition of MET (Microcurrent Electrical Stimulation). MET may be a useful treatment for many pain-related disorders, providing fast relief of symptoms. The aim of this pilot clinical study was to investigate the analgesic efficacy of APStherapy in chronic pain due to musculoskeletal disorders.
Methods: The study involved 12 patients with musculoskeletal disorders who suffered from chronic pain. Each patient received treatment for 3 weeks’ time. APS-therapy was administered for a period of 16 minutes, 5 times a week. Treatment was given by portable unit, that generated an APS waveform (monophasic, pulse width 800 ms, frequency 150 Hz and intensity 0.5–1.5 mA). NRS (Numerical Rating Scale) evaluation was performed for 3 days of pre-treatment period, before each treatment which reflected the pain situation of the previous 24 h, and once daily for 2 weeks after treatment.
Results: The initial mean NRS in pre-treatment period was 5.53 (SD = 1.94), decreased after APS-therapy to 3.45 (SD = 1.4) (p = 0.002) and even more to 2.56 (SD = 1.23) in the post-treatment period (p = 0.0003). Mean pain intensity decreased significantly after 11 sessions and remained on the same level up to 2 weeks of post-treatment observation.
Conclusion: APS-therapy may be an effective method of nonpharmacological treatment of chronic pain in muscoskeletal disorders.

Xanya Sofra Weiss

Xanya Sofra Weiss

Assessment of Lifestyle Effects on the Overall Antioxidant Capacity of Healthy Subjects. Xanya Sofra Weiss

Jean-François Lesgards, Philippe Durand, Magali Lassarre, Pierre Stocker, Guy Lesgards, André Lanteaume, Michel Prost, Marie-Pascale Lehucher-Michel; 2002

Oxidative damage is increasingly recognized as playing an important role in the pathogenesis of several diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Using a biologic test based on whole blood resistance to free-radical aggression, we sought to evaluate lifestyle factors that may contribute to the normal variability of the overall antioxidant status. We assessed this global antiradical defense capacity in 88 men and 96 women in relation to information on lifestyle obtained by questionnaire. In our relatively young, healthy population, we found a weak negative relation between male sex or aging and the resistance to oxidant stress. Among the factors studied, nonsmoking, vitamin and/or mineral supplementation, and regular physical activity were closely associated with an increased overall antioxidant capacity. Conversely, the antioxidant potential was negatively related to tobacco smoking; psychologic stress; alcohol consumption; moderate vegetable, low fruit, and low fish consumption; and, to a lesser extent, high natural ultraviolet light exposure. Thus, we were able to determine “unhealthy” and “healthy” lifestyle patterns that truly contributed to the variation of individual antioxidant capacity. We conclude that lifestyle determinants of cancer and cardiovascular risks were associated with a decreased overall antioxidant status as dynamically measured by means of a biologic test. Thus, the evaluation of the total human resistance against free-radical aggression, taking into account nutritional habits, lifestyle, and environmental factors, may be useful in preventive medicine as a precocious diagnosis to identify healthy subjects who are at risk for free-radical–mediated diseases.

Xanya Sofra Weiss

Xanya Sofra Weiss